RWB

Has it been authenticated by one of the major companies to do such things?

One of the pleasures of a hobby is sharing information with others. Each of us have differing levels and details of interest, and exchanging information is an excellent means of meeting others through those interests. Over time the emphasis of any hobby evolves as more knowledge is gained and technology advances enable different kinds of communication. Back in the 1920s, amateur astronomy was built around grinding your own telescope mirrors, flats, and building equatorial mounts. Today most telescopes are bought ready-built but hobbyists array them with cooled digital cameras, spectrographs and other devices that would have amazed professionals just a few decades ago. Yet under all the surface changes, the sharing of information and ideas remains central. Coin collecting retains the same pleasures of sharing information with others at club meetings, message boards, and through publications. I hope we will all remember that.

Dates such as 1903-S have been on collector lists for decades. Most of the nicer pieces were scooped up long ago, then sent for grading. Better hunting for good raw coins is often found at small coin shows - the kind held in VFD social halls and Am Legion posts. Estate sales can also be good places to look, but auctioneers at these things often combine estates and add junk that didn't sell earlier. Shill bidding is common.

I appreciate Rampage's comment.

It's unfortunate that no pieces were made and kept from the first pair of dies used. (Cynically -- they could be called "SMS 1948 Halves" or some other silliness.) I guess a TPG might designate the carded-coins as true "First date of Issue," but removing the coin ruins all the associated value since the coins themselves are ordinary.

ebay and other similar on-line venues, are home to a very large proportion of damaged, cleaned, abused, altered and unendurable coins.

Polishing - surface alteration and abuse - IS the damage.

Contents PAGE 9 Introductory Remarks PAGE 11 Chapter 1 – Crowns of Gold, Feet of Clay America was officially on a “gold standard” from 1900 to 1974 although its practical beginning was in 1834. Through political, economic and social changes gold seemed to be the basis of financial stability –– until one day the luster peeled off. PAGE 29 Chapter 2 –When A Dollar Is A Dollar During World War I, the United States learned that its economy could function very well without gold coins in circulation. Gradually gold was consolidated into national vaults. With nationalization of gold and silver every dollar became identical with every other dollar. PAGE 59 Chapter 3 – Between the Wars to End All Wars While America stood aside in world events during the “Roaring Twenties,” Presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover cut domestic budgets and discouraged capital investment in minting technology. The three great U.S. Mints stagnated in neglect and ineptitude until appointment of Nellie Ross as Director of the Mint in 1933. PAGE 97 Chapter 4 – Missing 1928 Double Eagles A bag of 1928 double eagles was missing from the Philadelphia Mint. The Secret Service investigated down to the dust on remaining coin bags but came up empty handed. PAGE 119 Chapter 5 – American Gold After Nationalization Hoarding of money by frightened citizens contributed to the Great Depression, but others sought to gain advantage from the situation, and some fortunate few found themselves owners of newfound treasures. PAGE 151 Chapter 6 – Coin Collecting During the Depression Shortage of cash did not deter people from engaging in hobbies and other inexpensive diversions. Coin collecting experienced a resurgence fueled by commemorative half dollars, inexpensive coin folders, and the prospect of finding a valuable coin in pocket change. PAGE 161 Chapter 7 – Treasury’s Wartime Secrets World War II was waged on many fronts and by every part of the United States government and people. Some of the war made headlines, some was out of public attention, and some was known only to a few. PAGE 185 Chapter 8 – Gold Discs for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia controlled vast petroleum reserves, but the United States was more interested in access to a strategic staging point to support a potential invasion of Japan. Gold bullion discs were part of the American plan. PAGE 211 Chapter 9 – Franklin D. Roosevelt Dime FDR was the only President many Americans had known. He was also the most dynamic since his cousin Theodore held the same office. FDR’s sudden death only a month before victory in Europe shocked the nation and world. PAGE 229 Chapter 10 – An American Original America has long had a fascination for the quirky yet practical genius of Benjamin Franklin. He was never elected to office but remains better known than most of the prominent men who became political leaders. PAGE 241 Bibliography

Press/Media Release For Release MM/DD/YYYY Contact: Roger W. Burdette, Seneca Mill Press LLC proudly announces release of the latest numismatic book by Roger W. Burdette: Saudi Gold and other Tales from the Mint Saudi Gold describes the economic journey from a presumed stability of various gold standards, to the reality that monetary value is an expression of economic activity within a free social structure. America’s numismatic journey began with tentative issues of “Fugio” cents in 1787 and “half dismes” in 1792. Over time, external events generated unexpected changes to accustomed financial and coinage systems. Some changes were of wide impact, while others were limited to our national mints, and some remain largely unknown to the present. Use of gold as a single monetary standard was commonly accepted by most nations. But the United States, with its diverse and questioning population, attempted to have gold and silver as “semi-exchangeable” if not practical dual standards. After decades of mannered stability, a once ubiquitous gold exchange standard crumbled under international economic pressures resulting from World War I. American dollars that had long been expressed as “gold dollar” or “silver dollar” or “greenback dollar” all became simply “a dollar.” Coin collectors used their newly equal dollars to enhance collections, fill coin boards and examine pocket change for rare and valuable coins. The business of coins became part of the collection of coins and drew within it a new diversity of hobbyists and businesses. During the interwar Great Depression period, Treasury began a large construction and modernization plan for the mints. This included separate bullion depositories for gold and silver, enlargement of existing mints and a proposed new mint in Indiana. Director Nellie Ross reinvigorated the Mint Service with better training, heightened security, improved facilities and crucial direct oversight. With World War II came new, often secret roles for the Treasury and Mint Bureau. They became lenders of war materials, international coin producers, and unexpected sources of foreign aid designed to improve America’s war efforts. The Department of State seemed, at times, to use the Mint Bureau as its own adjunct; bypassing a Congress reluctant to take a long view of international relations. World War II produced the greatest single disruption of human activity ever experienced. The rise of large-scale totalitarianism, weapons of unimaginable destructive capability, and economic distortion forced Great Britain, the United States and their allies to take extraordinary measures to make the word safe for democracy. Central to this was securing the cooperation of allies and non-aligned states for raw materials, overflight permission, and advance base logistics planning. Our title, Saudi Gold, focuses on one of many events involving manufacture of coinage, material lend-leas arrangements and, especially in the instance of relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States, personal kindness, connection and respect. America’s goal was not oil – we were self-sufficient – but access to a transportation base for troops required for the expected invasion of Japan. The gold discs which coin collectors associate with Saudi Arabia were only incidental, but after decades of confusion we present what actually happened. We close with examination of two of our most iconic coins. The first, Franklin D. Roosevelt dime, honors the wartime President who led with courage and commitment. The second recognizes Benjamin Franklin, a man who held no great political office, but became a revered American national philosopher. * * * * *

...more like dashes. This and the FDR dime are a couple of the "...other tales from the Mint..." part of the book title.

Members would probably like to hear about both the rare and the cheap. Post some nice clear photos and tell us about the collection.

You will be comparing fresh, sweet, juicy Gala apples with crabapple and vinegar mush.

In includes a lot of the outrageous - and plain stupid - coinage ideas put forth in the 19th century. It contains a lot of new information about these projects and corrects many past errors.

The complete Franklin half dollar story is in my book "Saudi Gold" which is currently being printed.

A member ATS asked the following question about Franklin half dollars given to guests at a dinner held for Mint director Ross. The halves were attached to informational cards, one card per guest. This was the first public introduction to the new coins design. John Sinnock prepared the design in 1942 for a half-dime. After Sinnock's death in May 1947, Gilroy Roberts completed the design models and prepared reductions for coinage. He retained Sinnock's characteristic low relief and indefinite modeling. The question is: "RampageJuly 20, 2022 3:40AM -- I wonder if these have any sort of special strike. It would be cool if they did and then discovered 70+ years after they were struck." The coins were not first strikes from new dies or anything special. They were pulled from a random bag from the Philadelphia Mint. The cards were signed and lettered in Washington, and the half dollars added in Philadelphia using the same cellophane envelopes common for proof coins in 1942. (Photos courtesy Timothy McConnell and United States Coin & Currency Shop, Philadelphia, PA .)

Tasty.

Indoor cats can be comforting pets. Outside, all should be destroyed....just like any other invasive and harmful species. Think Japanese beetles, "frankenfish," pythons in Florida, on and on....

Graded SY = straw yellow, clear

Organizations and individuals that benefit from the hobby and the work of others, should accept responsibility for giving back by whatever means they can. As to the practicalities of technological application to numismatics, the only places with access to a reasonably large flow of measurable coins are PCGS and NGC. Individually, neither is likely to be sufficient. As for sponsoring the cost of such work, that's an open question. Good equipment would cost between $50 and $75k for each facility, and employee time for measurements and data recording wold have to come from experience following training and process flow analysis. (There is no means for predicting when certain coins of interest will show up at either company, so the work would have to be as-needed for an employee otherwise engaged.) Having never understood VKurtB's antagonism toward historical research and empirical measurement, I defer to others to figure him out.

Is that the same specimen I left with my physician last visit?

The market value change of separating originals from restrikes could be substantial, but any implementation must be consistent over a period of years, and have access to a significant number of specimens. Only the two major TPGs have this capability. Auction companies and others are impeded by plastic slabs -- just like edge varieties on SG gold coins.

#1 Fine. #2 Damaged. No grade. #3 Cleaned EF.

Unfortunately, we still haven't seen one. The photos have far too much contrast to be useful. Look at some of the other photos members have posted and see if you can provide comparable images.

The current situation is that although we have technology to support greatly superior numismatic information, it is not being used and no organization seems to be interested in its use. Right now we can, with little work: Consistently examine and grade bulk coins and bullion tokens. Objectively determine the reflectivity of proof and proof-like coins and apply subjective categories. Measure the elemental composition of alloys. Separate originals from restrikes. Quickly identify counterfeits. Identify the origin of certain gold or silver used in coinage. Quantify design relief of original coin specimens. Identify and validate overdates, etc. through accurate surface characteristic determination.

Here is the disposition of the first five Trade Dollars struck at the Philadelphia Mint July 11, 1873. #1 Secretary of Treasury Richardson #2-5 Charles Broadhead of Philadelphia (letter below) Hon. Charles Broadhead, Philadelphia October 13, 1873 Sir: I enclose herewith as requested by you and promised by me some months since, four of the first five Trade Dollars, struck at the Mint. They are not so handsome as those since struck, as the dies are now in better working condition. Dr. Linderman was in town on Saturday. I understood he was to leave last night for Washington. He was stopping at the Washington House. I am, Very truly yours, A. Loudon Snowden, Coiner